Category:Charlottesville historic monument controversy

See also: Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces

This topic is well-covered by the wikipedia article Charlottesville historic monument controversy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Charlottesville historic monument controversy is the public discussion on how Charlottesville should respond to protesters who complain that various local monuments are racist. The controversy began before 2016 when protest groups in the community asked the city council for the local removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. Other monuments became part of the controversy, including those of Thomas Jefferson because of his ownership of slaves and those of Lewis and Clark for their advocacy of white colonists over Native Americans.

In 2016, the Charlottesville city council responded by voting to make changes including the removal of some statues and changing the names of some parks. Counter-protesters then filed a lawsuit to keep the statues.

On July 10, 2021, the city removed the statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.^[1]

After crowds cheered when the bronze statues depicting Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were carted away earlier this Saturday morning, the mayor called a Special/Emergency Meeting to order at 12 p.m. to discuss removal of the Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea statue on West Main Street. After the council's unanimous 5-0 vote, the Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea statue was also removed.^[2]